Head-to-head · facts checked 21 Sept 2026
Claude vs DeepSeek
Claude uniquely has 23 features · DeepSeek uniquely has 13 features.
The verdict
Claude or DeepSeek?
Section 01
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
Claude
Free
Free
Chat on web, iOS, Android, and desktop
Pro
$20 · $200
For everyday productivity
Max
From $100
Get the most out of Claude
Team Standard
$25 · $20
All Claude features, plus more usage than Pro
Team Premium
$125 · $100
5x more usage than standard seats
Enterprise
Custom
Seat price + usage at API rates
DeepSeek
Free
Free
Free chat app on web, iOS and Android, no paid plan
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.007 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.014 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.22 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.44 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Output)
$0.66 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Output)
$1.32 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.022 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.044 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.66 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Miss)
$1.32 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Output)
$1.98 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Output)
$3.96 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.007 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.014 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.22 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.44 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Output)
$0.66 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Output)
$1.32 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
Section 02
Pros and cons
From each tool's full review, written from the same checked facts.
Claude
Pros
- The free plan already includes web search, file creation, code execution and memory across conversations.
- Deep research is available from the Pro plan up.
- Claude connects to more than 800 apps, including Google Drive, Gmail, Microsoft 365, Notion and Slack.
- The Team plan includes single sign-on for teams of 2 to 150 people.
Cons
- The Opus and Fable models are only available from the Pro plan up.
- Claude does not generate images.
- On consumer plans, Anthropic trains its models on your conversations unless you opt out.
DeepSeek
Pros
- The chat app is free, with no paid consumer plan.
- The weights of DeepSeek V4, V3 and R1 are published on Hugging Face.
- It runs on the web and as iOS and Android apps.
- A developer API for DeepSeek's models is sold separately, priced per token.
Cons
- DeepSeek trains on your inputs and outputs unless you opt out.
- DeepSeek makes no GDPR commitment in its privacy policy or terms.
- It does not generate images.
Side by side
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2021 | 2023 |
| HQ | San Francisco, USA | Hangzhou, China |
| AI model | Claude (Fable, Opus, Sonnet, Haiku — Proprietary by Anthropic) | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813 (flagship), DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp (experimental multimodal) |
| User base | Millions+ (exact not publicly stated) | 100M+ (reported across web and app) |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Languages | 25+ | Multiple (interface available in Chinese and English at minimum) |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No — free tier is permanent |
| Starting price | $20/mo (Pro) | Free |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing — contact sales | — |
| All plans | Free — Free Pro — $20 Max — From $100 Team Standard — $25 Team Premium — $125 Enterprise — Custom | Free — Free deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.007 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.014 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.22 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.44 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Output) — $0.66 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Output) — $1.32 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.022 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.044 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.66 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Miss) — $1.32 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Output) — $1.98 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Output) — $3.96 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.007 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.014 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.22 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.44 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Output) — $0.66 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Output) — $1.32 / 1M output tokens |
| Positioning | ||
| Best for | Writers, researchers and developers who want voice, memory, projects and code execution free, with deep research on paid plans | People who want a free AI chat app with no paid plan, and developers who want open model weights |
| Differentiator | Claude combines Constitutional AI safety training with powerful reasoning, massive context windows, and a growing suite of agentic tools (Claude Code, Cowork, Design, Science) all under one platform built by Anthropic. | 1M context window, supports both thinking and non-thinking modes, Anthropic-compatible API format, multimodal experimental model |
| Competitors | ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Llama |
| Features | ||
| Anthropic API | — | ✓ |
| Chat Prefix Completion (Beta) | — | ✓ |
| Claude Code | ✓ | — |
| Claude Cowork | ✓ | — |
| Claude Design | ✓ | — |
| Claude Science | ✓ | — |
| Fim Completion (Beta) | — | ✓ |
| Json Output | — | ✓ |
| Microsoft 365 Integration | ✓ | — |
| Remote MCP Connectors | ✓ | — |
| Responses API | — | ✓ |
| Tool Calls | — | ✓ |
| AI Assistant | ✓ | — |
| AI Summarization | — | ✓ |
| API Access | — | ✓ |
| Browser Extension | ✓ | ✕ |
| Calendar Integration | ✓ | — |
| Data Privacy | — | ✓ |
| Document Creation | ✓ | — |
| Document Upload | — | ✓ |
| Email Management | ✓ | — |
| Follow Up Questions | — | ✓ |
| Meeting Summary | ✓ | — |
| Mobile App | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi Source Synthesis | — | ✓ |
| Note Taking | ✓ | — |
| Offline Mode | ✕ | — |
| Project Management | ✓ | — |
| Research Assistant | ✓ | — |
| Spreadsheet AI | ✓ | — |
| Task Automation | ✓ | — |
| Team Collaboration | ✓ | — |
| Web Search | — | ✓ |
| Integrations | ||
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser Extension | ✓ | ✕ |
| Google Calendar | ✓ | — |
| Google Docs Export | — | ✕ |
| Google Drive | ✓ | — |
| Key Integrations | Google Workspace, Slack, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, AWS, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Microsoft Azure Foundry, remote MCP connectors | Responses API, Codex integration, DeepSeek Harness, REST API |
| Microsoft 365 | ✓ | — |
| Notion Integration | — | ✕ |
| Slack Integration | ✓ | — |
| Zotero Integration | — | ✕ |
Section 03
Claude vs DeepSeek: common questions
Is Claude or DeepSeek cheaper?
Claude's cheapest paid plan is $20/mo (Pro) and DeepSeek's is Free. Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
Keep comparing
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